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20 Jan 2007

Chicken curry Kerala style / kozhi varutharacha curry



Ingredients and method
Chicken - 1 kg
Onions - 3 nos(chopped)
Tomato - 2 nos(chopped)
Garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp
Ginger paste - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 Tbsp
Garam masala - 2 tsp
Coconut grated - 3/4 cup
Small onions(Kunjulli) - 2 - 3 nos
Fennel seeds(Perinjeerakam) - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - A few
Coconut oil
Potatoes - 2 medium size
Green chillies - 2 nos or as reqd
Salt - As reqd.



1)Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in a pan.
2)Fry coconut with small onions,few curry leaves and fennel seeds.
3)When it turns brown, add turmeric powder, chilly powder and coriander powder and fry for few seconds.
4)Remove from fire.
5)When this cools, blend it using little water.
6)Cut and clean chicken.
7)Peel the potatoes and cut into squares.
8)Mix chicken, potato, chopped onions, tomatoes, garam masala, ginger-garlic paste and salt with the above mixture of fried coconut and powders.
9)Cook till done, by adding enough water.
10)Remove from fire when oil separates and check if the potatoes and chicken are well cooked.
11)Slit green chillies and add this into the curry.
12)Heat little coconut oil in a pan.
13)Chop 3 small onions and add this into the oil.
14)Add curry leaves and fry till the small onions turns brown.
15)Pour this into the curry.
Actually, this curry will have a dark brown color. Here the difference in colors is because of the difference of the coriander powder used for cooking. The first two pictures of the curry is cooked with home made coriander powder and the last one is with ready made powder.



Bloggers who tried out this dish.

Jeena
Sona

83 comments:

  1. Sounds great Seena and look delicious too.I will try,usually Sundays I cook something non-veg like these.Thanks.

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  2. thanks Asha,
    this curry is prepared in the olden days, when there are many members in the house holds! a long running curry but thick by adding coconut and potato to make sure to get everyone at home!

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  3. Hi Seena I think this recipe is wonderful. I made it tonight for my hubby and we enjoyed it a treat! Check out my blog to see how it went. Jeena :)

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  4. miam...délicieux!

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  5. hi seena,

    tried this curry for iftaar today with ghee rice and vellappam (ur recipe again)

    mmmmmmmmmmmmmm it was so flavourful and delicious. never thought varutharacha curry is so easy to make.

    thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe:)

    eid mubarak in advance to u and ur family


    luv


    sam

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  6. Thanks Jeena and Sam for trying out my recipes..

    Sam, Eid mubarak to you, and your family too..

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  7. Hi, seena..
    After all my search for this recipe is over. Its my husbands favourite dish.I am happy that now i can prepare it myself. Thanks a lot. I will let you know ones ai make it....
    I am just learing to cook all these stuff. I have a doubt, a silly one though.. He always says it will be dark brown coloured, but it doesn't appears so, here.. any specific reason? You know he is a perfectionist!!!

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  8. Hi Nimi,
    Thanks for visiting here..
    Nothing wrong in your doubt, actually this, and most of the varutharacha curries will have a dark brown color. At home we have home made coriander powder and here I use the ready made one. I think it is the reason for the color change. And you have to roast the coconut till brown,(frying more will burn it) and in the last stage, add coriander powder and roast for few seconds..However, no change in taste because of this, I think. Hope I could clear your doubt, my wishes to you to be a good cook, hope to see you back..

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  9. Hi Seena,

    Thank you so much for the reply... Actually i prepared it day before yesterday and you will be happy to know that he liked it very much, that is a great delight for me. Special thanks for you!!! i prepared chicken fry as well, yesterday... and it was amazing.Apart from the ingredients you mentioned i added little lemon juice and made a paste of them and applied. His appreciation was overwhelming!!!

    I have another doubt..in chicken curry, though it came out very well, i guess the pieces were little bland as if it didn't absorb the masala properly.. i did as you said .. but i didn't mix all the things & cook at once but fried all the vegies in lil oil slightly and then added chicken and masala paste.. is it the reason?

    I am just learning to cook and most of the time it becomes a great disaster..... anyways , from now on i can get simple recipes from you... looking forward to make more recipes and become a good cook.

    Once again thank you very much,
    regards.

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  10. Nimi,thanks dear,great to know that your hubby loved it..
    You have to cook chicken, veggies and masala paste together. Otherwise masalas can't coat chicken pieces properly.And better you do it on a low flame.So next time you try to make it in this way.
    Adding lemon juice is too good, that can increase taste, instead you can use vinegar too. It will make the meat tender.
    Again thanks, keep visiting, am sure you can be a good cook soon! ( one more thing, I have a cousin in your name...:))

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  11. hai seena,
    im jamshi from dubai i dont know much cooking recipes and i want to be a good cook.i think ur recipes r helpful to me. thanks for that bye

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  12. Salam Jamshi,
    Welcome!
    Start from the simple recipes you like, definitely you would be a great cook! :)
    Good luck, thanks for visiting , enjoy cooking!

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  13. Yours is the best food blog that I have come across so far. I also like deepann.blogspot. I tried this recipe and it came out well.

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  14. Thank you so much Rajeev,
    Glad to know you liked my site ..Enjoy visiting here! :)

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  15. Seena - I a going to try this recipe for a party tomorrow. It looks simple enough and sounds quite tasty. My wife may be in for a surprise when i cook this dish up.... :)

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  16. Binoy, thanks for visiting..
    This is very "naadan" curry, I hope you all will love it!

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  17. Hello Seena. I am a fan of Indian food but i could never get Chicken curry right. I tried your recipe and it was delicious :) As you mentioned it was yellowish, although I added tom paste. How can I make it reddish? I don't want to cut down on coriander powder.

    Also, I blended the coconut for a while but still I could feel it crunchy in the paste after it is cooked. What did I do wrong? I used sweetened coconut (I couldn't find unsweetened in my grocery store) and soaked in in water so its not sweet anymore.

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  18. Thanks Aisha, for the fb.
    You don't need to cut down coriander powder.If you make it reddish, try kashmiri chilli powder or paprika powder in that. It will help.

    For coconut I use fresh coconut or dried coconut powder( kopra powder). Dried coconut powder is good for roasting and gets brown color easily. So try to get it.I have never seen a sweetened version of coconut. You can try other chicken curry with coconut milk from this blog. You may like it.. :) Let me know if you have any more doubts..

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  19. hi Seena,
    This recipe seems very easy and tasty am going to try it out today itself.will let u know how it turns out.
    dipthi

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  20. hi seena,

    this chicken curry is just superb.my grandmother used to make a kind of curry.but i didn't know that recipe and i've never had that curry ever.but when i made this one,i knew that this is it.thank u sooooo much and keep posting.goodluck.

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  21. Hi Dipthi,
    It seems I missed your mssg, sorry, Hope to see you again.. :)

    Laxmi,
    Your message was a real surprise in the morning!
    My mom, grand mom all cooked this varutharacha curry in the same way, I just followed it!
    I think there was a little difference in the powders added, since the new generation uses less masala powders than the previous ones..
    thank you, and come back Laxmi.. :)

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  22. aslm alkm.
    this curry is really tasty.i sauteed onions,ginger garlic,tomato,masala slightly befor mixing it with the chkn.is it ok if i mix the chicken with all of these without sauteeing

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  23. Alaikkum Assalam Roz,
    You don't need to do sautéing in this, this is the naadan method , so mix and cook and all the ingredients together and do seasoning with shallots and curry leaves in the end..
    ok try that too and let me know.. :)

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  24. Its yummy .. I was looking for different style of chicken curry and kozhi varutharacha curry has always been my favourite.. didnt think it would be this easy to make it .. Thanks for posting the wonderful recipe ..

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  25. Neena, thanks for letting me know about outcome! Keep visiting here.. :)

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  26. thanks for the guidance
    rakesh

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  27. thanks for the guidance
    rakesh

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  28. This curry is delicious.. thanks for this recipe :)

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  29. The recipe looks so yummyyy!!!!!!
    I ll try it soon and let u know my comments

    Santhi

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  30. Hi Seena,

    My name is Mahesh. I recently started cooking as I now need to stay away from my family in Swiss. Tried to cook non-veg for the first time and with ur well described receipe, I was able to make it to atleast 75% on my first attempt. Hats off to your service. Continue to offer us such delicious receipes.
    Cheers
    Mahesh

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  31. Thanks Mahesh, hope you can make it 100% perfect next time.. :)

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  32. shahir Kallaroth23 August 2009 at 12:47

    I love kerala style chichen curry... this one is delicious

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  33. Thanks Shahir for the nice words! :)

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  34. hi seena
    thanx first for you
    your chicken varutharachath vey nice

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  35. Thanks Anas, glad to know you loved it.. :)

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  36. Seena, tried this chicken curry today. It came out very well and I even got the curry in dark brown color.It tasted really great :)).
    Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe.Keep posting!!!..

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  37. Thanks SM, try out more from this space... :)

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  38. Hi Seena,

    Tried this curry today and it was awesome..
    Thanks for the lovely recipe :)

    Amrutha Sreejith

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  39. Dear Amrutha! Thanks a lot for the comment, hope to see you again with more.. :)

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  40. helloo seena,
    i'm new in this blog.i tried ur recipe today and it came out very well.thnk u soo much

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  41. Dear Shahanaz, welcome! :)
    thanks for the feedback, glad to know.. hope to see you around.. :)

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  42. Hi Seena

    Tried this curry last night,i must say it came out really well ...Thnk u so much dear

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  43. I am very happy I discovered your site! What wonderful recipes - I'm making the beef biryani this evening - yum!
    Inge

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  44. rahna said...

    hi seena,it was very delicious.it came out very well.in my home everyone like this recipe.thankyou for this recipe.

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  45. I am new to non-veg and so tried your chicken curry following all the steps perfectly and wow the curry turned out superb. Suddenly I became a perfect cook at home. My mom said it is the most tasty curry she has ever tasted. Hats off to you!

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  46. I made it.. Was FTW!

    Thanks for the recipe ma'am.

    http://twitpic.com/1mycdo

    Jacob

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  47. hi i would like to prepare this curry as it was our old kerala dish...
    today i have a party in my house i think my friends would like this too

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  48. Thanks friends for the lovely feedbacks.. :)

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  49. Hi Seena,
    Love the recipe and want to try it out...Just wanna check whether the roasted coconut and the powders have to be ground into a fine paste or just a blending would be OK. And also do we need to marinate the chicken with the above mix,onion,tomatoes, salt,garam masala and keep it for a while...or does it go directly into the pan.
    Thanks
    Sheeba

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  50. Dear Sheeba, sorry for the belated reply. I couldn't check mails..
    Just blend the things as said in the recipe, and no need to marinated chicken.
    Hope you can do well.. all the best! :)

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  51. Thanks Seena, loved this recipe..this makes one feel so nostalgic...it made me miss my amachi's cooking esp her Paal appam coz it would really go well with this Curry :-)
    Indeed worth trying!!!

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  52. Thanks Sheeba, hope to see you again.. :)

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  53. Hi Seena,

    This is Vidya,

    I have a small doubt, is it ok to cook the chicken with the masala's, i have never tried chicken but now wish to start with this one.

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  54. Hi Seena

    The recipie is very simple and I just tried making it. My friend gave me the link to this recipie. The chicken is still cooking on the stove but the taste is totally awesome. Thank you very much for posting. The photos are nice.

    I actually sauted the onions before I added the rest (potato, chicken, tomato, garam masala, ginger garlic paste and the ground masala), just to avoid hubby saying that he can still taste the raw onion.

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  55. Vidya, sorry for being late to reply.. kids was sick..
    You can prepare chicken with all masalas.. no prob. just follow the recipe.. :)

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  56. Thanks Jayashree, that was very nice comment.. :)

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  57. thanks seena i am manikandan. and now going apart for study engineering.I am sure that there i would prepare dishes myself. Now i have planned to make ur chicken curry.thanx to ur recipie

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  58. hey seena....tried this curry when guests were coming over for iftar......served it with pathiri & porottas.....& everybody loved it.......i cudnt keep count on d no of pathiris i consumed that evening....keep up the gud work

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  59. hey seena.....tried out this curry when i had guests over for iftar......served it with pathiri & porotta....& everybody luvd it......had no count of the nmbr of pathiris i consumed tat evening.....thanx 2 u...keep up the gud work :)

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  60. Hi Seena,

    I tried this chicken curry,and it was great!
    My wife is in Kerala,after two weeks i am going kerala and will try this there..and will give a surprise to her!

    Thank you very much for this wonderful recipe.

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  61. Hello Seena,
    I am a vegetarian. But my husband is a fan of chicken. I have never tasted chicken. I am planning to cook this recipe. Can you please tell me how to check if the chicken is properly cooked? How long we should keep it in low flame?
    Regards,
    Ammu.

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  62. Hi Seena,

    I tried this recipe and it was too good.it was delicious and very easy to make. i took a picture too. thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  63. Thanks Manikandan,Shamna,Emiliyas,Ammu and Seema for the comments..!
    @Ammu, the cooking time depends on the quality of chicken, fresh chicken takes too much time than frozen one. Any way keep checking if it is done or not.. :)
    @Seema, send me the picture you took of this curry.. :)

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  64. Hi Seena,

    I tried this recipe but used boneless chicken breasts, and 1 kg was far too much chicken, so it took away some of the flavoring. Also was a little dry. I am going to try again with drumsticks. The flavor is excellent, so I hope it will turn out better overall this time.

    CJ

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  65. I tried with again chicken drumsticks, and it was perfect - just like in Kerala!

    Thanks for this recipe such careful instructions. I managed to get very fresh curry leaves, and I think that made a difference too.

    CJ

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  66. CJ, seeing your first comment, was thinking to tell you not to prepare such a curry using only chicken breast! Always prefer making chicken curry using chicken pieces with bones, that would be perfect. Boneless chicken is good in making chinese dishes. And using fresh curry leaves and coriander leaves also will be very good. Thanks, keep trying out other chicken curries also, hope you will love them...:)

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  67. hi,
    i'm thanzeena.i started cooking after my marriage, just only 3 months. search for easy and tasty recipes lead me to your blog. all the dishes in your blog looks nice and yesterday i tried out this recipe and my husband give me full mark for this curry. thanks a lot for helping me.keep posting more interesting recipes........ once again thanks for this recipe

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  68. Hi Seena,

    I'm Dhanesh. I tried your recipe last week and it came out perfectly, considering the fact that cooking is not natural to me and I started cooking in the recent years. I was a bit worried in the beginning when the coconut was overfried, but in the end, it was perfect. To save time, I cooked the chicken, potato, etc. in cooker. It was a nice combination when we had it with ghee rice (that credit goes to my wife), the Thalasserry style.

    Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe for all the foodizens out there...

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  69. Hi Seena, I am going to cook your curry for twenty people this week ! Is it chicken thigh or pieces you used, recipe doesnt say. What would be best for a large quantity ??
    Regards from Australia Lani x

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  70. Lani,
    use chicken pieces with bones.
    please check the previous comments and don't forget to leave a feedback after you tried...:)

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  71. Hi Seena,

    I tried this dish last Thursday and it was super hit at home.....the taste was amazing!!!!Thanks you posting it....

    Regards,

    Bindhu

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  72. i tried this dish last weekend and it was superb... thanks for sharing such a great recipe!!





    regards,
    divya

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  73. Hi ..

    I tried this dish... today.. it was really tasty.. thanks for the recipe..:)

    Maya

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  74. Thanks very much its very y tasty

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  75. wow Seena ...hats off to you
    I tried it and I love it.....
    its amazing

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  76. Thanks Seena...its amazing...i tried....:-)

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  77. hy seena,

    its still in the stove.. am quite sure it will turn out well.. as so did the biriyani and fish curry i tried from your blog.. thanks for posting these simple recipes... i like the fact that its simple.. [both ingredients and recipe]... and also that its about the kerala dishes...we all so much love.. ;)

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  78. Thanks seena,

    for the easy to make recipes.. i have tried the biriyani and meen curry.. they are really tasty and easy to make.. now the chicken is in the stove ;)

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  79. Hi , I made this recipe and its a wonderful one. I am always cooking chicken in this style now. Thank you so much

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  80. Thank you Seena:)

    I have tried this and it has come out really well. Thank you for the recipes..

    Regards,
    Kiran Nath H

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  81. Thank you Seena:)

    I have tried this recipe and it has come out well and every one at home liked the dish..

    Regards,
    Kiran Nath H

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Regards,
Seena